It’s that time of year. The days are getting shorter and the nights longer. Teens are beginning to get into the routine of the school year. Autumn is here. This is the time for carving pumpkins and joining friends in hayrides. Corn Maze visits and cider drinking. Mugs of hot coffee and crisp cool air. It’s also a time when many teens engage in unsafe behavior–primarily underage drinking. Farm parties, Halloween parties, and other social events are often populated with beverages that have no business being in any teen’s hands. So, what can you do to prepare for a safe, fun Halloween and fall season without compromising your decision to protect yourself and your body?

1. Avoid parties where you know folks will be drinking.

2. Tell your parents where you will be going and who you will be hanging out with.

3. Make sure you have your phone with you at all times when you are heading out to a social gathering.

5. Be a great older brother or sister and take your younger siblings Trick-or-Treating!

6. Round up some of your friends and have a pumpkin carving night! Go pick out your pumpkins at a local farm and get together with some fun music, sodas, and Halloween candy and make a night of it!

7. If you go to a party and things get rowdy or you see folks drinking, make the wise choice and LEAVE.

8. Visit a haunted house with some friends and decompress after all the frights with a frozen yogurt trip!

9. Have a costume party with your friends and have a contest for the best costume! Serve delicious alcohol-free beverages and snacks.

10. Make the choice to rethink the drink and keep your body unpolluted and protected. You are a wise, intelligent individual. You know that drinking is a poor decision for your health and your well-being. Be above it.

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